Content

An evening in East Berlin in 1991: Reunification has been cancelled. Now as then, the wall divides Germany. Writer Thomas Brussig, drunk with the applause of the crowd, vows: he will not travel to West Germany until all East Germans can. He will not own a telephone until everyone else can as well.Nor will he read The Unbearable Lightness of Being until it is no longer banned. He will need to keep his promise, as East Germany lives on …

“I have read Thomas Brussig, and if I had another life, I would translate his novels into English – just to show doubting Americans how unbelievably funny German literature can be.”Jonathan Franzen

Sample translation available.

About
Thomas Brussig

Thomas Brussig, born in 1964 in Berlin, first achieved public recognition for his novel Helden wie wir. Since then, he has published many works, including Am kürzeren Ende der Sonnenallee (1999), Wie es leuchtet (2004), and the musical Hinterm Horizont (2011). His works have been translated into 30 languages.His written works - as well as one film and one stage play - have reached an audience well into the millions